It turns out one of Her Majesty's secret agents lived the high life only in the movies. The James Bond of the 1970s, Roger Moore, won't eat foie gras, and he won't speak to friends who do either.
"Before I knew how it was produced I would often pick at it at parties just because it was on offer -- though I never ate too much of it because of its huge calorific content," he writes Tuesday in an op-ed in the Daily Mail. "Since I have understood the cruelty attached to its production I have never touched it again. I now boycott restaurants where it is served."
Kids hoping to grab a Happy Meal from McDonald's might end up with PETA'sUnhappy Meal instead.
The animal rights organization lifted its moratorium on the McCruelty Campaign this year and since June has distributed Chicken McCruelty Unhappy Meals to McDonald's customers outside about a dozen restaurants around the country.
"McDonald's markets its food to children by packaging it in brightly colored boxes with toys," Lindsay Rajt, a spokeswoman for PETA, tells Slashfood. "But most kids really love animals, and if they knew that McDonald's suppliers were breaking the wings and legs of gentle animals like chickens, I think that you'd have to drag kids into McDonald's kicking and screaming."
Any news about PETA usually makes me roll my eyes, but for once, I think they're on to something. Rather than lathering in terrible logic and alienating those they want to convert, they've grabbed the wonderful Cloris Leachman and gone fancy.
That picture to the right, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, presents Ms. Leachman in a ball gown of lettuce with the catch-phrase "Let Vegetarianism Grow on You."
It's not really the sort of image that will inspire masses to put down the bacon and grab a head of lettuce, but it is a fabulous picture.
I think it's time to put the babies aside and dress more women in greenery ... as long as PETA is prepared for me to admire the pics whilst eating a medium-rare burger.
"Dear Mr. Clooney," begins the PETA letter. "We have been offered some of your perspiration, apparently taken from a towel at a gym in Washington, D.C...this prospect has given us an interesting idea...The technology actually exists to take your perspiration and make it into George Clooney-flavored tofu (CloFu)...CloFu will help people be more healthy and environmentally friendly and will spare animals from being killed for the table...The science is pretty straightforward...if you use a sample of human perspiration, it is 'no different than making artificial chicken flavor for instant gravy.'"
I'm pretty sure PETA's kidding about this one, a mere publicity stunt to promote tofu while showing us that "chicken flavoring" is just as gross and weird as "human flavoring." Right? Right?
Fish are not particularly cuddly animals: they lack warmth, fur, scratchy tongues, and personalities. They don't seem to show much interest in cuddling with humans, playing with catnip, or generally engaging in fun, photogenic activities.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently came to the conclusion that this lack of cuddliness is the reason that so many people eat fish. Consequently, they have begun a campaign to rename the aquatic beasts "sea kittens." As campaign coordinator Ashley Byrne notes, "Most parents would never dream of spending a weekend torturing kittens for fun with their families, but hooking a sea kitten through the mouth and dragging her through the water is the same as hooking a kitten through the mouth and dragging her behind your car."
This argument, admittedly, brings to mind about a million rebuttals, but I am inclined to let the differences between fish and kittens speak for themselves. It seens necessary to point out, however, that cats are friendlier than fish and that fish (aka "tofu of the sea") are far stupider than cats. Moreover, while fish taste like fish, my experience has shown that cats actually taste like sesame chicken.
How did this idea pop up? A restaurant in Switzerland decided to make soups, sauces and other delicacies using 75% human breast milk. If it's a good idea for one Swiss restaurant, it's good enough for a mass-market, (albeit right-on) maker of ice creams. You have to give credit to PETA for seizing a PR opportunity when it finds it .
"If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk," wrote the animal rights group in its letter, "your customers-and cows-would reap the benefits."
Ben & Jerry's, which made a name for itself in the '90s by running its business on progressive, pro-environment practices, is one of the few mainstream companies that might even "consider" a proposal like this.
Unfortunately, it's got product to push. And eye-popping though this idea may be, it's not exactly lip-smacking. Putting aside the health debate surrounding dairy products, I feel fairly secure in saying that the American public is not likely to find the idea of human breast milk ice cream as titillating as the Swiss might.
As one chef put it, "We're going to paint the town with foie gras."
Um, that might be taking it a little far, but okay.
After just over a year of the law that banned restaurants from serving foie gras, the city of Chicago has done an about-face, making the fatty liver of ducks and geese available to diners. Many parties are involved with the issue of serving foie gras in Chicago restaurants, from animal rights activists to restaurant owners to foie gras producers, and even to those interested in the political process in Chicago's city administration.
Well, today is March 15th and if you know PETA, then you should know what day it is. Yep, it's Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA day.
Oh, you thought I meant the other PETA. Nah, I meant People for the Eating of Tasty Animals. You can look them up on Face Book. The group even posted an event page for the occasion.
Before I talk about this video from PETA, can we just settle down and understand that I'm not taking sides in the debate by posting about it here? I have no axe to grind or bone to pick or anything else, I just think it's a clever video that has talking food in it.
The video is titled "Road To The Greenhouse," and it shows the Presidential candidates answering questions about meat and it's effects on health and the environment. I mean, come on, how can you not laugh at the names Dijon McCain and Celery Clinton? I particularly like how Fruity Giuliani always talks about "7/11."
But wait a minute...Sam Donaldson?! What is this, 1988? I guess they wanted to get something to rhyme with Spam.
As a company, once you find a marketing strategy that works, you usually stick with it. Nike had the swoosh, milk has the mustaches, and PETA? Well, they have naked women.
Over the years, PETA has used women celebs like Alicia Silverstone, Eva Mendes, and Cindy Crawford to encourage the masses not to wear fur or eat meat. And while they've gotten a lot of flak, they continue to pay women to drop trou for the good of the animals.
Today in Philadelphia, PETA's "lettuce ladies" (women wearing little more than lettuce-shaped undergarments) will be handing out soy turkey sandwiches to promote the company's "Turn over a new leaf: go vegetarian" campaign.
A few points that should be noted, here: PETA rarely uses men to advertise its messages. It did use MTV Jackass' Steve-O, who was nude, but the ad a) only showed his backside and b) was quite obviously in jest, poking fun at the typical oversexed PETA model and keeping in vein with the show's brand of humor. Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix have also done commercial spots for the organization - fully clothed. Somehow, I wonder if the effectiveness of the message is lost when we're too busy ogling Pam Anderson's generous chest to worry about what she's promoting.
Now, I'm all for soy products, either as meat replacements or as an addition to a healthy diet. Isn't it fascinating how, in campaigning to stop exploiting one living thing, another is exploited in its place? Maybe PETA should stop pointing its fingers at others for a second and turn the magnifying glass on itself.
Every year, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) holds an online poll where the public can vote for who they feel is the sexiest vegetarian. This year, the top two were Kevin Eubanks - jazz guitarist and bandleader for The Tonight Show, and Carrie Underwood, who claimed the title for the second time after winning in 2005 as well.
Past winners have included Kristin Bell and Prince in 2006, Underwood and Chris Martin in 2005, Alicia Silverstone and Andre 3000 in 2004, Lauren Bush and Josh Hartnett in 2003, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman in 2002, and Shania Twain - who in 2001 was the first celebrity to win the title.
I have to admit, my vote would have been for Joaquin Phoenix, but I'm not complaining about Eubanks winning, either.
Application season is winding down (or gearing up if you're the procrastinating type), but for vegetarians and vegans still in high school, it might be interesting to take note of PETA's list of the most veg-friendly schools for 2006. The list of schools was generated by and voted on by visitors to PETA's website, most likely students from the various schools who wanted to promote the things that their campuses are doing to diversity their offerings. The only real drawback to the list is that it doesn't take into account the ease of being a vegetarian off-campus. If it did, odds are that Berkeley would top the list with its tremendous amount of vegetarian and vegan fare just seconds from campus and Indiana University, located in a state where the only vegetarian food at some restaurants is a wedge salad sans bacon and dressing, would be further down the rankings. As it stands, here are the most veg-friendly campuses in the US and Canada:
What ever is a food blogger to do when offered a free lobe of foie gras from Mirepoix USA? One option is to do nothing. Another is to call Peta and complain. The best option, however, is to gather recipe suggestions, find a second blogger who received one and challenge her to a virtual face-off over who can prepare the better torchon of foie gras. In this case, the showdown was between Adam, the Amateur Gourmet, and Meg, of Megnut. Take a look at Adam's account of his adventures with the fatty liver, as well as at Meg's account from her kitchen. Since we weren't there to taste either of the finished products, we only have photos and Adam's video of his friends' reactions to the tasting to help us decide whose cuisine, in this case, reigns supreme.
Also, if you think that foie gras comes in those nice little rounds you see above, think again. Click past the jump to see what it looks like as it is being prepared.
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Fish are not particularly cuddly animals: they lack warmth, fur, scratchy tongues, and personalities. They don't seem to show much interest in cuddling with humans, playing with catnip, or generally engaging in fun, photogenic activities.
The vigilant folks at PETA are really straining at the boundaries of good taste.
Well, today is March 15th and if you know PETA, then you should know what day it is. Yep, it's Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA day.
Before I talk about this video from PETA, can we just settle down and understand that I'm not taking sides in the debate by posting about it here? I have no axe to grind or bone to pick or anything else, I just think it's a clever video that has talking food in it.
Application season is winding down (or gearing up if you're the procrastinating type), but for vegetarians and vegans still in high school, it might be interesting to take note of PETA's list of the 
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